Cache Creek out of “ready cash” due to disaster clean up costs

Nearly three weeks after a flooding disaster some people in Cache Creek are still out of house and home and the municipality has run out of cash as it cleans up the mess.

“There are still people who have lost everything. Their homes, their possessions, their land all gone away.”

Mayor John Ranta says four families are still homeless.

“At least four families that are still staying in hotesl and motels. We are trying to develop a recovery plan for them so we can them into something a little more permanent. They are being supported by emergency social services but it is getting the point where people are going to have to start making tough decisions.”

Ranta says they are also dipping into reserves to pay contractors bills for the clean up and to run the municipality.

“We have run out of ready cash if you want to put it that way. We are starting to have to cash in our investments in order to meet the operating costs of the municipality in response to the disaster. We have contractors that have been working here that have submitted invoices and we, generally speaking, pay those bills upon receipt. We are starting to dip into reserves presently but hopefuly with the provincial governments support we will be able to get those reserves back up to what they were previously.”

On May 24th torrential rains caused a flash flood to sweep through Cache Creek closing roads, damaging and destroying homes

Comments

Seems to me that the Provincial Emergency Program along with the Ministry responsible for Municipalities needs to step up to the plate. Further, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities needs to take a more active role.

There is no way a small community like Cache Creek with a limited population can fund urgent needs and long term rebuild.

Much worse in NDP Manitoba. Taxpayers waiting for ages to get some funding for major flood damage. Remember that provincial NDP of government cannot come clean with a balanced budget and have kept Manitoba at a “HAVE NOT PROVINCE” and have been warned that their credit rating is due for a decrease.
Alberta has a AAA credit rating and is a HAVE province. Now that the NDP has been elected as the provincial government, those two items will disappear.